Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Let me tell you about how good these cupcakes are. See those two cupcakes down there? See how there are just two, not twelve? That's all that was left by the time I actually had a minute to snap a photo.

I get a kick out of making slightly non-traditional baked goods. Things that most people have never heard of before. That's probably why I just made chocolate chip cookies for the very first time last month. These Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes definitely fall into that "intriguing" category.

They're really easy to make, and a great alternative for people (like my former self) who find piping/decorating cupcakes to be too high maintenance. Although they're lacking that piled-high frosting and look eerily similar to muffins, I can assure you that these are genuine, bona fide cupcakes. The nutella sort of hardens in the oven, giving it a texture that's similar to canned frosting - in a good way. The cake itself is divine too. It has a classic yellow cake flavor and the recipe is so simple that I'm sure I'll be using it as a base for other cupcakes in the future.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.

3. Using an ice cream scoop for uniformity, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp nutella. Swirl nutella in with a toothpick, skewer, or sharp knife, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella. Don't worry about making it look pretty.

Amy,this is my first time here,I was reading Mary's post on home made hazelnut Nutella and I saw the link to these nutella beauties.WOW!!! I am baking them right away,and also adding myself to your list of followers :) Cheers!!!

God bless you... actually to be honest, I tasted and loved nutella WAYYYY before it was popular (my uncle used to work somewhere and, ahem, got some "samples"... *wink*) and now I'm kind of over it... but knowing how good it is still makes me want to try this. I might make them for Valentine's Day! Can I add a drop or two of red coloring to make them pink or red? Hope you reply! And BTW, I just stumbled upon your blog... and I'm hooked!

God bless you... actually to be honest, I tasted and loved nutella WAYYYY before it was popular (my uncle used to work somewhere and, ahem, got some "samples"... *wink*) and now I'm kind of over it... but knowing how good it is still makes me want to try this. I might make them for Valentine's Day! Can I add a drop or two of red coloring to make them pink or red? Hope you reply! And BTW, I just stumbled upon your blog... and I'm hooked!